My Great Aunt

Unfortunately I have to report that my Great Aunt Babe passed away Sunday night. As my immediate family knows, Chad and Jay have been taking care of her needs for just over four years now. The caretaker lady, for lack of her professional title, was with her as she passed away peacefully in her own bed. Off hand I don't recall how old she is, maybe 87-ish? Oh that's bad, I just can't remember her birth year. Anyhow, clearly I won't be able to attend any services for her being on the other side of the planet, and that bums me out. The last time I saw her it was March '06 and after we had been talking for 15min she had to ask who I was. I was taken aback in a disappointed way to learn her Alzheimers was worse than I thought.

When I was 25 I stayed a few days with her in Yuma and we played a lot her favorite card game, Uno, and watched Wheel of Fortune. The next day I developed a tooth ache so she drove me to her dentist "on the other side". Yep, she took me to Mexico for some good affordable dental work. I was a bit nervous but quickly learned that is basically what most of the elderly from Yuma do anyway.

I could go on and on with crazy wild memories I have with her. I'll never forget her bright white hair, bright white frost eye-shadow, her dark leathery sunbaked skin, her gobs of gold rings all over her fingers and that damn cherry red lipstick. You could see (and sometimes hear) her coming a mile away in that little Toyota Convertible of hers. As nutty and interesting as she was I loved her and she always was good to me, always.

Stacie